The 1985 vintage in Burgundy got off to a late start,
thanks to a prolonged winter. The summer, though, was rather warm and
sunny all the way through (aside from a pesky hail storm that hit just north of
Beaune one day in mid-August). The lack of rain meant growers had healthy
fruit to work with, a much needed bit of relief over the previous few
vintages. The wines from 1985 were showing well right from the start and
many peaked at 5-10 years of age.

The 1990 vintage experienced a bit of difficulty during the vines' flowering,
taking a longer-than-usual amount of time to complete. The summer was
rather warm and sunny, save for a touch of rain in September. Many growers
regarded the rain as beneficial; not enough to do damage, but sufficient
to revive the thirsty vines. The harvest began around the third week of
September in the Cte de Nuits, while it commenced a week earlier in the Cte
de Beaune. The vintage is regarded as exceptional and many wines are still
viewed as being in a stage of development at 11 years of age.

Here's what we found in sampling a broad spectrum of wines, the bottles coming
from the cellars of the tasting's participants.

The Wines

Gerald's
Rank

Ellen's Rank

Bob's Rank

GROUP RANK

TOTAL POINTS

1sts/2nds/
Lasts

JOSEPH
DROUHIN1985
Vosne-Romane

8

8

8

8

83

1/0/6

FAIVELEY1985
Mazis-Chambertin

7

6

5

6

68

0/1/3

GEORGES
LIGNIER
& Fils1985
Morey-Saint-Denis
Clos des Ormes 1er Cru

5

7

5

7

73

0/1/1

Domaine
LCHENAUT
Fernand & Fils1990
Chambolle-Musigny

3

2

4

2

45

3/3/0

MANIRE-NOIROT1990
Echezeaux

6

3

1

4

52

2/2/2

POTHIER-RIEUSSET1985
Pommard

4

4

2

3

51

1/3/1

SRAFIN-PRE
& FILS1990
Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru
Le Fonteny

2

5

7

5

52

2/1/0

JEAN
TARDY
1990 Nuits-St.-GeorgesAu Bas de Combe

1

1

6

1

44

4/2/0

Notes Compiled By Gerald Weisl.8th Place: JOSEPH DROUHIN 1985 VOSNE-ROMANE"There's nobody home." opined the first critic, whose
sentiments were echoed by a number of other tasters. "It's drying out,
losing its fruit and it thin and simply no longer a very good wine." said a
second taster. Another found more interesting elements, detecting
"berry fruit, vanilla cream and some brown sugar and licorice notes that
make it interesting, but it's not great." One defender of this wine
found "ripe, waxy notes with herbs and tar and some sweetness...beautiful,
warm lingering finish." Not many people agreed, a final commentator
saying this is "tart, shrill and has a bitter olive" character.
Ellen's notes included the word "blechh!" if that is a word. She
also found orange peel and tomato notes.
I found it lightly earthy with old, tired notes reminiscent of cooked cherries
and caramel. It's old, tired Burgundy, but Burgundy it is. No
stars. (Three star scale, zero being average.)

7th Place: GEORGES LIGNIER 1985 MOREY-SAINT-DENIS 1er Cru
Clos des Ormes"Unripened berry, game, wet earth and a tart minerality" were
found by one astute taster. Another found the wine to be "rich, but
too much acidity and too subdued in terms of fruit." Someone else
found "barnyard" notes, while another described this character as
"weedy." Someone else found a note reminiscent of ammonia.
More positive commentary came from a taster who found "a minty nose, ripe
red fruits, fennel and cigar-box tones." Another taster felt it
lacked Burgundian character and was not an especially good example of wine made
of Pinot Noir, having a "curious smoky scent."
Ellen found a meaty note with an onion-like character.
Add in my "animal" notes and vegetal character and you've got a main
course at dinner! I also found a resinous and root-like quality and felt
this was, indeed, Burgundian. There's a fair bit of tannin left in
this wine, but its vegetal, rather than fruity tones make it a difficult choice
for further aging.

6th Place: FAIVELEY 1985 MAZIS-CHAMBERTIN"Cherry candy, vanillin, ripe fruit, the herbal aromas and flavors
work well together...drink this now." said one critic. Another found
this to be "medium-bodied, with sweet black fruits...juicy and a persistent
finish." Someone found "black cherry notes, subdued, flat with a
wonderful perfume: musk and floral notes...the texture is velvety and
feminine." While that sounded good, another taster described it in
less glowing terms, noting "it's tired and over the hill."
Someone else agreed, finding "maderized, old notes."
Ellen imagined "this must have been nice in its day...it's not terrible,
but is tired."
I wrote that it's an "old, getting-tired Burgundy with sweet fruit and some
earthy and herbal elements. The tannin and alcohol dominate on the palate,
as the fruit has given up the ghost."

5th Place: SRAFIN PRE et FILS 1990 GEVREY-CHAMBERTIN
1er Cru "Le Fonteny""Unripe plums, violets and a floral note with some toasted wood,
but a chalky finish." were the adjectives employed by the first
critic. Another taster found the "chalky notes," and only a
"little fruit to this out-of-balance wine." Someone else was
more positive, finding it "...too young, not mature with bright fruit, nice
cherry, floral, spicy notes with a classic Burgundian bit of a barnyard
character." "Silky and cherry notes" were found by another
person, while another got "silage...black fruits...earthy...tar...herbal, medicine-like
notes."
Ellen found more onions here.
I found a bit of vanillin with some toasty oak and a woodsy character which
reminded me of a Charlopin wine of recent vintage. The smoky, hickory,
bacony notes come through on the palate. I was quite pleased with this,
ranking it highly and finding it to be a one-and-a-half star wine. A few
more years of cellaring are not, in my view, out of bounds.

4th Place: MANIRE-NOIROT 1990 ECHEZEAUXOne
opinionated soul found lots of "fat, strawberry jam notes" and asked
that it be "taken away and given to Robert Parker, the famous wine
critic." Another taster found "vanillin and smoke, muted berry
notes with currants and a diluted, somewhat stalky finish." Someone
found "smoky, toasty notes with lemon, citrusy and mint, along with some
cigar box notes and firm, silky tannins." Another asserted "This
has too much tannin and not enough flavor. The balance is off."
Others found "Fresh, bright cherry fruit," adding "this is a
lovely wine." Another found it to have "clove, cherry and black
plum notes and it's still young."
Ellen found some tangy, gritty notes to this lightly oaked Burgundy.
I found it difficult to detect much as it was situated behind the very aromatic
and woodsy first place wine. I finally decided it's got some mildly sweet
cherry notes and a bit of tannin and vitality, though the astringency seems to
be winning this battle over the fruit. One-half star.

3rd Place: POTHIER RIEUSSET 1985 POMMARDThe highest-ranking of the 1985 entries, one taster felt it displayed
"delicious, lively fruit, with intense berry notes and a smooth, long
finish. Nutmeg and vanilla notes are present, too." Another
person found "Black fruits with a mildly barn-yardy quality, with great
balance, structure and bright cherry fruit hinting at even greater things to
come." Taking issue with that description, one person said it's
"a bit faded and tired." Another disagreed, finding "good
structure, a lot of life being left here, with plum, cassis and a mocha spice
with herbal nuances." Other adjectives included "cedar...red
fruit...celery seed...faint cherry...cigar-box."
Ellen liked the cherry, vanillin and mocha/coffee notes.
I found a dusty fragrance with an unusually deep bouquet hinting at earth and
root-like notes, along with a touch of kirsch. The rooty flavors and
moderate tannins warrant a half star rating for the moment. It might have
rated higher several years ago...

2nd Place: FERNAND LECHENAUT & FILS
1990 CHAMBOLLE-MUSIGNY"Subdued
with wet underbrush and mushrooms" were the descriptors employed by one
critic. Another found "forest floor notes with hints of dried
porcini...a little bit skunky, rich and full on the palate, with nice
texture."
Ellen's notes use the "cherry" adjective repeatedly.
I found some Asian or Oriental spices with lively berry fruit and a hint of a
leathery note. There's still plenty of vitality left, with nice fruit and
some tannin. Quite complex. This can go, probably, for another 5-10
years.

1st Place: JEAN TARDY NUITS-ST.-GEORGES "Au
Bas de Combe"A
couple of critics derided this wine saying it "was aged in redwood!",
while the other said it was more "like American oak....quite
resinous!" Another taster pegged this as being a "Parker wine;
it's got oak all over it!" Others said it shows "Bright
cranberry notes with a dusty quality and a lot of oak, roses and some earthy
tones...it's drinkable now and head & shoulders above the rest of the
field." One gentleman described it as having "nice
texture...very feminine." Another person found "ripe, red fruits
with some black pepper and violets."
Ellen described it as "minty and sweet" with lots of "cherry
notes. And it's still alive!"
I found plenty of fruit to stand up to the lavish oak treatment. The wine
is quite deep and very showy, being quite Burgundian. The palate offers
lots of fruit and nice oak, vanillin notes and some creamy, cedar and sandalwood
elements. It has enough tannin to go for five to ten years and,
importantly, sufficient fruit. Two stars. Cream of this crop!

Please note: The wines tasted are not always wines
we have (or have had) in the shop.
Many bottles are merely for our enological exploration.
Price quoted are current at the time of the tasting, but may be different
when you're reading this.

WE HAVE NOT ORGANIZED A TASTING IN A WHILE...
BUT WE DO POST THE RESULTS OF A PRIVATE TASTING GROUP THAT'S BEEN MEETING FOR
MORE THAN 40 YEARS!

We are working on
organizing some blind-tastings at the shop.
Send us a note to indicate your interest in participating.
These would be on Wednesday evenings and you'd need to bring 8 wine glasses.